All decked out for the holidays, this Omni William Penn Hotel wedding will instantly put you in the Christmas spirit. After their adorable Christmas tree farm engagement session, Mary and Brad decided to also model their big day after their favorite time of the year. With tons of evergreen, shades of red, and Christmas spirit, today’s feature is just as chic as it is magical. The couple was careful to weave holiday traditions into their decor in thoughtful ways, such as Christmas tree bulb escort cards, a cookie table full of Christmas classics, and a cake topper exclaiming, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Throw in plenty of holiday decorations at the hotel, lots of glowing candlelight, and even a hanging mistletoe for good measure and you’ve got the recipe for a sensational seasonal wedding! Alison Mish Photography captured all of the red and green goodness, so go ahead and feast your eyes on it!
About the Couple
Brad and I met through mutual friends on Facebook in 2012, where we stayed in touch and became good friends over the next 5 – 6 years, bonding over hockey.
Throughout our friendship, we would always passively invite each other to our respective cities, but I never took any of the invites seriously. However, in the fall of 2015 when the Wisconsin Badgers signed the old Pitt football coach, Brad told me, “If you want to see a REAL football game, you could come to one of the Badger games.”
We kept saying “it was just as friends” but going there really felt like a 600+ mile blind date. It was obvious we had an immediate connection. Six months later, Brad picked everything up and relocated from Wisconsin to Pittsburgh.
Brad proposed on his birthday that following March. I had a feeling it was coming because he arranged his own birthday dinner and invited my mom, his parents from out of town, and all our best friends. Before dinner, we stopped to take pictures on the roof top of the parking garage that had an awesome view of downtown. While I had my back turned, Brad got down on one knee!
About the Wedding
We decided we wanted to do a Christmas wedding because Christmas is both of our favorite holiday and we love the winter. December 22 also happened to be Brad’s grandparent’s 67th wedding anniversary, so that made it even more special.
We tried to tie in some Christmas traditions throughout our decorations by having our seating chart assignments written on ornaments and hung from a Christmas tree. We had a mistletoe for guests to kiss under. Also, instead of having our guests clink their glasses to signal us to kiss, we provided everyone with their own set of holiday bells so they could “jingle all the way,” which was really special.
Even our Pittsburgh cookie table had a Christmas twist with various Christmas cookie staples and evergreen accents.
We really lucked out because the Omni is decked out BEAUTIFULLY for Christmas in the lobby (with a massive tree and gingerbread house) as well as in the Grand Ballroom (with Christmas trees and garland hung from the balcony).
Brad and I were even introduced to the reception while playing Mariah Carey “All I Want for Christmas is You”.
Favorite Moment
Since Brad moved to Pittsburgh from the Wisconsin area, it was really special for it to be the first time that both of our entire extended family and friends blended into one big party! Seeing all the Wisconsin Badgers dancing and having a blast with all the Pitt Panthers was really special. The dance floor was never empty and it was so much fun!
I also have a second favorite, which was our first look. The Omni helped arrange for us to have a private moment just to ourselves on their beautiful mezzanine level. I can’t recommend doing the first look enough, especially for winter weddings. Our ceremony started at 5 p.m. so if we wanted any daylight photos they all needed to be done beforehand. It was great because our portraits and group shots weren’t rushed and we had the chance to drive around to three different locations in the city before the actual ceremony. It also helped calm the nerves of walking down the aisle. I can promise you – you still get that rush and butterflies of seeing your future husband at the end of the aisle. You basically get to have two entirely different first looks…plus then you don’t miss cocktail hour, so win-win!
